Little has been published regarding BSW students' perceived stress, coping self-efficacy, and self-care. A preexperimental study, with one qualitative question, was used to determine the effects of a self-care course on students' perceived stress scores (PSS), coping self-efficacy scores (CSES), and subjective experiences. Nineteen undergraduate students participated. Mean age of participants was 25, 90% were female, and most were Caucasian. The average CSES was 161.42 (SD=41.57) at pretest and 180.72 (SD=34.97) at posttest. A statistically significant difference in mean scores was found (t=−2.109, p=.05). The average PSS was 17.58 (SD=8.50) at pretest and 14.83 (SD=5.607) at posttest. Students' subjective experiences with the course were positive, and 79% noted that their understanding of self-care changed. Despite the small sample and lack of diversity, the study's contribution is noteworthy. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine the impact of a 3-credit course on self-care for BSW students.

This study aims to explore and understand the ways in which social work field instructors assess ‘readiness for practice’, particularly in situations where a BSW student has experienced a placement breakdown or failure. Through the examination of existing literature, themes of gatekeeping, assessments of readiness, field instructors’ relationships with the academic institutions and tensions between the worlds of social work values and gatekeeping emerged. Rooted in an interpretive methodology and supported by in-person interviews, the study sought the feedback and experiences of five BSW field instructors, with the intention of better understanding the ways in which field instructors assessed ‘readiness for practice’. Emphasizing the use of the term ‘readiness’, the findings suggest that assessing readiness for practice is a multi-layered process. They presented some similarities in the skills and values deemed essential for BSW students to possess to demonstrate readiness and discussed some of the problematic behaviours that contributed towards lack of readiness and placement breakdowns/failures. The findings also discussed the tension that field instructors experience in relation to their mentoring and gatekeeping roles and their desires to see an increase in the collaborative relationships with academic institutions. This study encourages field instructors and Schools of Social Work to critically analyze and explore ways in which they can advance their relationship and work collectively to address issues pertaining to lack of readiness for practice. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)